The missed European Cup final

referee/ dyk

Hámori was originally appointed as linesman in the 1976 European Cup Final (Bayern-St. Etienne 1-0), but he disallowed a legal goal in the previous weekend. The President of the Hungarian FA, Istvan Kutas decided that Hamori won't travel to Glasgow, and he was replaced by György Müncz.more...

Quite good

historic matches

It was written all over it - draw, and nil-nil at that, if one remembers Cote d'Ivoire's past on these occasions. The game itself was interesting enough, there were not too many chnces, and as the scoreline demonstrates - not converted. And after extra-time players, officials, spectators and tv-viewers were treated to a dramatic penalty shoot-out which ended after all 22 players remaining on the pitch at the final whistle, being given an opportunity to score. And the African Cup of Nations went to Cote d'Ivoire, winning on the slimmest of margins, 9-8. But if on the night they did not play better than Ghana, looking back on the whole tournament, they deservedly brought the trophy home.

Mr. Papa Gassama and the ars

Mr. Gassama, one of the younger generation of African referees, who had already officiated at WC 2014, proved to be the right choice for the final, performing better than many of his colleagues in the current tournament. In normal time he did not interfere too much, letting the game flow, sometimes in an almost erratic rhythm. There was one case where he perfectly used the delaying mechanism, waiting to see if advantage is available, and when things went wrong, blew his whistle and restarted the game from where the foul was committed (78'). On the other hand, in extra-time he became too cautious, whistling and stopping the game in every instance, and preferring to favour the defender on 50-50 occasions. The refereeing team did not detect Gyan (Ghana) treading (trampling?) on an opponent's foot, which brings me to the imbalanced brandishing of yellow cards - all of them (four) towards Cote d'Ivoire players. However, one of the four was booked very late in the game, while his provocative behaviour and dirty play deserved a much earlier booking, and probably a dismissal in a later stage (Bailly, yellow card: 105+1'). Actually he and Boye (Ghanna) could have (and probably should have) been sent-off simultanously in the most contentious moment of the game: while waiting for a free-kick to be taken by Ghanna, both players were embroiled in a brawl (58'). It was certainly Bailly to start, but Boye's reaction was violent, head-butting his opponent, who immediately tried to respond in kind. The referee called both players, but decided to just have a word with them and "close the case". Both players didn't learn any lesson...
Both assistant referees had not much to do offside-wise. Mr. Camara (Senegal) could have seen Gyan's unsportsmanlike behaviour. Both ars made some mistakes concerning the direction of throw-ins and corner-kick vs goal-kick decisions. The most obvious mistake was made by Mr. Ahmed Ali (Sudan), when a free-kick taken by Mubarak (Ghana) was deflected-headed twice by two different Cote d'Ivoire players. What what should have been a corner-kick to Ghana was indicated as a goal-kick to the other team in a crucial minute (88'). Admittedly, the ref could have seen it himself, but probably did not want to overrule his assistant.

Solid

historic matches

It was a hard-fought contest, with some good spells and some medicre ones. Australia scored just before half-time, could have deservedly won in normal time, but a lapse of concentration in stoppage time sent both teams to extra-time. Then again, close to the end of the first half of extra-time, Australia scored their second goal, to which the Koreans had no reply.

Mr. Faghani

Mr. Faghani had a good game. He let the game flow, and if there were mistakes, most of them were negligible. In a few cases, there is cause to reflect upon: in the first four minutes, once an Australian and then a Korean treaded on an opponent's foot. The refereeing team did not detect both incidents (these incidents are very difficult to detect clearly, as your eyes are just about 1.6-1.8 metres above ground and you are quite afar). The booking of Kruse (Australia) was harsh and almost ridiculous (68'). The player fell awkwardly, had to be treated for a lengthy while, which could have given plenty of time to ponder upon even if, at first glance, the ref deemed it to bo be diving. The referee stuck to his guns, and when Kruse stood up he was shown the yellow card (the player was almost immediately replaced as he genuinely twisted his ankle). And then there was the phase before the second Australian goal. Juric (Aus) and the Korean defender Jin-Su Kim tussled for the ball, pushing and shoving each other. The Australian had the upper hand, turned the ball to his mate Troisi who scored the decider. I am convinced, the tussle took place after Juric had pushed his opponent from behind without an an appropriate reaction from the refereeing team. However it was a solid performance, the referee being relaxed and contributing to a generally fairly contested encounter.

2012

referee/ bio

Adam Laszlo Nemeth started refereeing in 1998. His first first division match was in 2008 and he became a FIFA referee in 2012. He was an UEFA category 3 referee until the end of 2014, but after some weak performances, he lost his badge early.